Ruth Levitas
Ruth Levitas is a Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Bristol. She is well known internationally for her research on utopia and utopian studies.
Her book, The Concept of Utopia, addresses the notion of the ideal society throughout European history. She is recently credited for formulating a program of sociology which is fundamentally utopian-focused in conventional sociological discourse.
In The Inclusive Society?: Social Exclusion and New Labour, Levitas introduced the idea of social exclusion as part of the new political language. She also introduced the concepts of MUD, SID, and RED, as tools for analysing social exclusion.
Levitas is the daughter of trade unionist and Spanish Civil War International Brigade fighter Maurice Levitas, niece of Communist Stepney councillor and Battle of Cable Street veteran Max Levitas, and sister of theatre historian Ben Levitas.Honors
In 2012 Levitas was awarded the Lyman Tower Sargent Distinguished Scholar Award by the North American Society for Utopian Studies.
